Far Too Tempting
by nattikur cullen
Summary: For two years Bella had been in love with Edward Cullen, not that he  or anyone else for that matter  ever realised her existence. But one day that all changes, and Bella finds herself sucked into a word she's never even dreamed existed.
1. Oh

**AN: Hello. So I haven't written in **_**forever**_** but recently I started reading FF again and, well, I fell back in love. :) So I decided to write a new story. I'll try and post chapters as often as possible. Be nicee. It's been a while since I wrote.**

**Disclaimer: The plotline is mine, but everything else is thanks to the genius that is Stephenie Meyer.**

**Chapter One – "Oh."**

The sky was a thick grey – a stormy colour. It went on for as long as I could see, hiding away the beautiful sun and leaving me in the horribly chilly gloom. There was a strong wind blowing at me, biting at my bare neck until I could feel goose bumps prickling up my arms. My dark skinny jeans clung onto my icy cold legs like they were trying to suck any warmth from them. They were out of luck. I was wrapped up in skinnies, an old black short-sleeved band tee, a black fake leather jacket and a pair of old red Dr Martens. But still the cold found some way to seep through. My toes were almost numb, even hidden inside the huge boots, so I moved them in beat with the music I was playing on my iPod – it was a habit.

The high school car park was quite empty. It was still early, and anyone who had arrived already was hidden inside in the warmth. Only I was stupid enough to want to stay outside despite the frosty weather. I was used to it though, having lived in this small town all my life – after all, Forks was hardly known for its _good _weather. I tucked down my chin, hiding my neck away from the cold, and began to drum my fingers along with my feet. The music had suddenly become a lot faster and I was using all my concentration to keep up with the beat. That was until a shiny silver car entered the car park and pulled up in a parking spot near the where I was sitting and the engine turned off. Suddenly the car door opened, and out stepped _him_. His wild bronze mess of hair flew about in the feisty wind, leaving his large green eyes free to stare at. I couldn't help myself. I admired the way his clothes clung to his well-built body and the way his porcelain skin seemed to shine like it was made of a million diamonds. He began to walk towards the school, and when he was within a few steps on me his eyes flickered to stare straight back at mine. I quickly looked down, my cheeks burning like they'd suddenly caught on fire. _Crap. _He'd caught me.

I hastily tucked my iPod into my jean pocket and grabbed my school bag off the ground beside me. Flinging it over one shoulder, I rushed towards the school building, pushing my way past _him _to get there. I never stopped looking down.

As I stood outside my first class, I could not get the image of how he'd looked this morning out of my head. His skinny black jeans that emphasized his long legs; his green wholly jumper that clung to his chest in a very flattering way. But most of all I pictured his face – his beautiful hair, his dreamlike eyes, his porcelain skin, his wonky smile when he'd caught me staring at him…

The bell for first period woke me up from my daydream and I quietly shuffled my way into my first class – English Lit – my cheeks burning every time the image of his smile flickered back into my mind.

When the bell rang at the end of the class, the two girls on the desk in front of me started talking. I tried not to be nosy, but I couldn't help but overhear as I packed up.  
>"It's such a shame that he doesn't have more of a life. He's so gorgeous. I invited him to my Christmas party yesterday but he said he was busy. My arse. He's not exactly <em>in demand<em>." The girls giggled at that. I stiffened, knowing instantly who they were talking about.  
>"If only he lifted his nose out of those books," the other girl added, "I'd gobble that sexy thing up in a blink." They giggled again.<p>

I'd heard enough. I flung my bag over my arm and almost ran out of the classroom. My throat felt sore and my heart hurt. I was glad I'd gotten out of there before I'd said something stupid or defending him or brought attention to myself in any way. It had taken me a long time to become invisible, and I wasn't going to waste all that hard work. I was still in pain as I rushed to my next class, my mind full of words I wished I had the guts to say.

Before I could think, I felt my body collide with something hard and fly backwards onto the ground. Luckily the bag on my back stopped my head from slamming into the floor, but still I was dazed. I couldn't quite make sense of what had just happened.

"I'm so sorry," an angel-like voice rushed the words. They came out in an almost seductive slur. My body turned to ice. I recognised that voice, that smell. I suddenly felt him kneel beside me, his body too close for my fragile heart to bear. "Are you alright?" He asked, sounding genuinely worried. Stupidly I allowed myself to turn my head and look at him. Instantly our eyes met. It was like a fire ripped through my body and before I could help it a slight gasp flew out of my lips. "Oh!" I sighed.

His hand was suddenly at my face, sliding around my cheek to keep me turned towards him. The contact made the fire in my body blaze again. It was far too much. My body felt like ice, but my heart felt like jelly. I felt an uncomfortable stinging sensation in my eyes. His beautiful face began to blur and at the same time my cheeks started to feel wet. I was almost sure I was dreaming this. And then he moved so that his arms were underneath me, lifting me up until I was no longer touching the ground, my bag now swung over his right shoulder. I simply closed my eyes and let the dream continue. I was not ready to wake up just yet. I felt myself being moved and I began to feel the bitter cold win again. Then he spoke, his lips so close to my ear. His voice was wonderful. "Can you stand?" he asked. His voice sounded strained. I longed to comfort him, but my thoughts were hardly coherent. All I managed to do was nod very slightly. I felt myself being very carefully placed back on the ground, my eyes flickering open as both my feet were firmly back down. Bad idea – I almost fell over at the sight. _He _was there, his bronze hair falling over his forehead and his left eye, all messy and beautiful. The one eye I could see was so gorgeous. It was such a deep endless green that I couldn't help but sink straight into it. His forehead crinkled as he quickly steadied me. I delighted feeling his arms around me. I never knew my dreams were so realistic, but they must be – he looked almost real. That made me giggle.

With everything that had been going through my mind, I hadn't yet realised where he'd taken me. But now, as he opened a silver car door for me, I finally began to take in my surroundings. We were exactly where we had been this morning – the school parking lot. Although this time we were standing right next to his car. Everything had happened so quickly.

"Get in," he ordered, his voice sounding slightly strained. I smiled delightfully at him as I did what I was told. When I was comfortably in my seat, I heard the door slam behind me. I watched through the front window as he ran to the driver's side of the car. He climbed in quickly and turned to look at me, frowning. This made me frown. This was meant to be a _good_ dram, so why on earth wasn't he smiling? I got a little angry, but it all faded when a moment later he reached over my shoulder, his chest brushing slightly against mine. My breath caught in my throat and I couldn't help but throw my arms around him, hugging him as tightly as I could. His breath taking smell filled my lungs. It smelt like his voice sounded – so incredibly seductive that it really wasn't fair at all.

He spoke again, this time with an amused sort of voice. "Isabella," he spoke my name clearly, although it sounded like he was putting a lot of effort into trying not to laugh. I pulled back and looked at him curiously. That was when I noticed that he was holding my seatbelt in his hand. The realization that I'd made a very embarrassing mistake hit me. "Oh," I said slowly. He hadn't been looking for a hug at all – he'd been going to do up my seatbelt for me. A small crooked smile played at his lips as he clicked my seatbelt into place next to me. He turned to look at me just once more before reversing out of the parking spot and driving away. I was too preoccupied to notice that he hadn't put on his seatbelt – I couldn't seem to get his dazzling smile out of my mind.


	2. Knight in Shining Armour

**AN: Yes, so I realised I hadn't explained **_**anything**_** in my last chapter, and so I needed to do a little bit of catchup. This chapter was so wonderfully fun to write. :)**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Some paragraphs here are almost identical to those in the book, but who better to describe the Cullen's house that herself?**

**Chapter Two – Knight in Shining Armour**

I seemed to have fallen asleep during the journey, because I suddenly snapped awake when the car stopped. It took my eyes a moment to adjust, and then I remembered it all. My back straightened as the realization of everything hit me, and then my eyes narrowed. I'd been so sure that was all a dream, but then I'd woken up. So why was I still in his car? I didn't dare let my eyes look over to the person beside me. I could hear their soft breath and that was enough. I didn't want to lose my coherency again.

"How do you feel?" His alluring voice almost made me breathless. It took all my concentration to keep my breathing steady, but my heart kept doing summersaults inside my chest.

"I'm fine," I assured him, my voice a bit shaky. I hoped he didn't catch up on that. He had, and he sighed very loudly, obviously not pleased.

"I wish you wouldn't lie to me," he murmured, his voice doing that slurring thing that made the fire in my chest reignite ever so slightly. He'd lent in closer to me now, his voice sounding quieter but urgent. "How do you really feel?"

I closed my eyes and tried my hardest not to think of him. For a moment, I was able to concentrate on my body, to figure out if I really was okay. I was confident with my reply now, and this time it didn't shake. "There's nothing wrong with me," I told him. "Except there probably will be when my dad finds out I wasn't in second period today." Frowning at this realization, I suddenly remembered to look at my surroundings. My irritation only increased when I realised where he'd taken me. "You brought me to the hospital?" I asked, furious now. I finally turned to look at him, and in all my anger his face did not have the impact on me that it usually had.

He rolled his eyes at me and pushed his keys back in the ignition of the car. "It seemed logical," he explained matter-of-factly, hardly altered at all by my anger. "You were practically unconscious when we left school."

My mood improved a little when he drove out of the hospital parking lot, and although I tried to be stubborn and stay at least a little angry, it became impossible. He was just too charming for me to stay mad at. He started to drive down some small little roads that seemed to lead towards the forest. I was so curious where he was taking me, but his silence kept me silent. Occasionally he would turn his head to look at me, and his lips would be pulled out into one of his dazzling crooked smiles.

Eventually he broke the silence. "Music?" He asked, nodding his head towards the glove department. I pulled it open to see a stack of CDs. I began to flip through them all casually until I found one that I favoured. Pulling it out, I slid it into the CD player (it looked expensive, but then so did everything this boy owned) and pressed the play button. The acoustics were great, I couldn't lie.

"Claire de Lune?" He asked, surprised. "You know Debussy?"

"Not well," I admitted. "My dad plays a lot of classical music around the house – says it reminds him of mum. I only know my favourites."

"It's one of my favourites, too." He tilted his head at me, as if to try and figure me out.

"Edward," my tone turned sharp. "I'd appreciate if you looked at the road while driving."

His head tilted back as he roared with laughter, but he did as I asked and stared straight ahead at the road. "Better?" He asked, his voice still thick with amusement.

"Yes," I murmured, extremely tempted to stick out my tongue at him. Somehow being with him felt natural. I'd completely forgotten it was the first time we'd actually spent time alone together. Of course, we'd had the occasional meeting – when living in a town as small as Forks, and going to a high school as small as ours, it was inevitable. But never had we had an actual conversation. The fluidity of it surprised me, and I realised that I'd become more relaxed around him than I was around anyone else. Maybe this was what it felt like to be _friends_. The thought of calling Edward a mere friend amused me and upset me at the same time, and so the noise I made was a muddle of a sigh and a giggle. Edward almost turned to look at me, but he quickly stopped himself and carried on staring at the road. I was glad he was keeping to that, especially because that meant he couldn't see my cheeks as they turned a rather deep shade of red.

We passed over the bridge at the Calawah River, the road winding northward, the housing flashing past us growing farther apart, getting bigger. And then we were past the other houses altogether, driving through misty forest. I was trying to decide whether to ask or be patient, when he turned abruptly onto an unpaved road. It was unmarked, barely visible among the ferns. The forest encroached on both sides, leaving the road ahead only discernible for a few meters as it twisted, serpentlike, around the ancient trees.

And then, after a few miles, there was some thinking of the woods and we were suddenly in a small meadow, or was it actually a lawn? The gloom of the forest didn't relent, though, for there were six primordial cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches. The trees held their protecting shadow right up to the walls of the house that rose among them, making obsolete the deep porch that wrapped around the first story.

I didn't know where I'd expected him to take me, but I definitely hadn't expected this. The house was timeless, graceful, and probably a hundred years old. It was painted a soft, faded white, three stories tall, rectangular and well proportioned. The windows and doors were either part of the original structure or a perfect restoration. Edwards Volvo was the only car in sight. I could hear the river close by, hidden in the obscurity of the forest.

"Wow."

"You like it?" He smiled.

"It… has a certain charm."

He chuckled lightly and stopped the car. Then, finally, he turned to look at me. He seemed to be as pleased to see me as I did him, although I'm sure I must have imagined that. The pools of green in his eyes softened when he saw me, and suddenly he was smiling again. "Can you walk this time or do you need me to carry you again?" He teased.

I should have been annoyed, but it was impossible to be annoyed at Edward. Although there was something I needed to ask him. "Edward," I began, still trying to think of the best words possible. "What are we doing?" I finally settled with a simple question, and tried to make it sound as friendly as possible.

His smile faltered a bit and his eyes hardened again. "I don't know," he replied honestly. Before I could comprehend it, he had undone his seatbelt and shuffled closer to me. "You practically fainted in my arms, Isabella. Was I meant to just leave you there?"

I shook my head, unsatisfied by his answer. I ignored his use of my full name and got straight to the point. "No, Edward. I mean what are we doing _here_?"

Now he was confused. His forehead wrinkled and his lips became pursed. "I don't… understand." He seemed to be struggling with his words more than I was. That thought comforted me slightly.

I found the words spilling out in a mush as I subconsciously lent towards him. "Edward, we've spoken maybe the once or twice, and suddenly I've found that you've driven me to your home – or at least I assume it's your home – in the middle of a school day. What are _we_ doing _here_?"

I watched his eyes as he tried to make sense of my words, and I watched the sadness that crept into them as he finally registered them. "I'm sorry," he sighed, looking down at his hands. "I didn't really think. All I knew what that I wanted more than anything to bring you here. I'm sorry, Isabella. I'll take you back to school now." His voice was monotone and glum, and he began to pull away from me. Quickly, I raised my hand and wrapped in round his arm, not letting him go.

"No!" I insisted, acting purely on impulse. I was sure I'd regret all this later, and I'd feel so embarrassed. Oh well, you only live once. I let my hands rise to his face when I placed each hand on either side of his face, lifting it up to look at me once again. I realized I had to try and explain the mistake he'd just made, but I wasn't sure where to begin. The only words I could find were three words that I was very sure would not help this situation in the slightest. Instead I just waited there a while, not moving, until I could think of something logical to say. When finally the words came, I let them all rush out. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did bring me here." I ignored the confusion in his eyes and continued. "But I'm just so curious why now, after all these years, you suddenly decide to become my friend. Or at least, that's what I assume you're trying to do, unless you have some alternative motive?"

His eyes, a gorgeous sea of green, had expressed so many different emotions in the past minute that I'd struggled to keep up. When he spoke, the words were hesitant. "I never understood you, Isabella." He murmured. "Everyone else, they're predictable. I seem to be able to understand the way they think, the way their mind works. Call it a natural initiative if you will. But you…" He trailed off, a small smile entering his lips. "You always surprise me. It's quite refreshing actually. I never approached you because I was _scared_ of you." His smile grew even larger. "For someone who's used to being able to guess how people will view him, to not be able to know is terrifying. And I was terrified every time I was with you because of that."

It still didn't understand, and, although I was scared of questioning it any further, my curiosity won over the fear. "But if you're scared of being around me, then why would you drive me here, where we'd be alone?"

"Because I _want_ to understand you." His eyes shone with absolute brilliancy and my mind suddenly stopped working. My hands slipped from around his face and I fell clumsily back into my chain. Sighing, I covered my eyes with one of my hands and let the other flop to my side. This was all too much for me.

Edward had moved to Forks two years ago, and from the moment he'd stepped into that Biology classroom and taken the seat next to me I'd been head over heels. Although it was clear he had money, he was subtle about it, never showing off or drawing attention to himself. When he'd turned down parties to study, and turned down invitations to various lunch tables to be able to sit by himself and read, that was when I'd really fallen for him. He'd tried to isolate himself, in a way very similar to how I'd isolated myself years ago. Of course, being a native I'd had a heads start. And he was just too attractive to go completely unnoticed. I, however, did not have that advantage (or disadvantage, depending on how you looked at it). It was only then that I'd realised I'd isolated myself so much that not even Edward would pay any attention to me. Except, now he was trying to tell me that that wasn't the reason at all. It was all far too confusing for my mind to cope with.

"Isabella, should we go inside?"

That was another thing that bothered me.

"Bella," I corrected him, my tone sharp. I didn't need to uncover my eyes to know that my tone had upset him. I could hear it in the sharp intake of breathe he took.

"Bella," he corrected himself. "Should we go inside?"

Eventually I nodded, and I listened as Edward slid out of the car. Before I could count to five he was opening my door for me and I was suddenly in his arms. The shock forced me to uncover my eyes and I ended up looking straight into his eyes. "It seems you like being the damsel in distress, don't you Bella?" He teased. I groaned and covered my eyes. I could feel him kick the car door closed behind him and suddenly he was off, moving towards the house. "Stupid knight in stupid shining armour," I grumbled under my breath, rolling my eyes at him under the cover of my hands.

"I heard that," he told me, seemingly amused by my comeback.

"I'm glad," I retorted, and Edward laughed the most boisterous laugh I have ever heard. The noise sent shivers of delight down my body, and a smile twitched at my lip. It was funny to think that yesterday I hadn't known this laugh at all. I let my arms snake around Edwards's neck and I sighed contentedly. This felt _right_.


End file.
